Voyageur re-enactors take to the Rideau Canal

The banks of the Rideau Canal will echo to the rhythmic splashing of canoe paddles as a re-enactment group portraying the voyageurs of the 18th and early 19th centuries heads up the canal from Kingston to Ottawa.

Part of the Voyageur Brigade Society, the Rideau Canal Brigade will gather at Rideau Acres campground Aug. 5 for a departure the following day. They expect to arrive in Ottawa on Aug. 15.

Mark Lund, one of the organizers of the trip, said he expects at least 65 paddlers in seven replica voyageur canoes. The participants range in age from seven to 70.

This year was picked for the trip since it coincides with other commemorative activities for the War of 1812-14. It also marks the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s first canoe visit to the Ottawa Valley.

The original voyageurs (“traveller” in French) were an essential part of the Canadian fur trade as they negotiated the challenging waters and treacherous rapids of the country’s lakes and rivers to deliver badly-needed supplies to the far-flung rendezvous posts and then return to the Hudson’s Bay Company with the furs the trappers had collected.

Their canoes, birch bark over a wooden frame, were usually either 11 metres or 7.6 metres long, the bigger ones used on the Great Lakes, the smaller ones on the rivers. They could carry up to three tons of cargo and were crewed by six to 12 men who paddled for 14 hours a day. It was dangerous, backbreaking work since portages were often required to get the heavy canoes and their cargoes past the rapids.

The Rideau Canal had little connection with the fur trade “but we wanted to paddle it and see all the history,” said Lund.

The group will be going through 49 locks on their 209-km journey to Ottawa.

Lund, a “60-plus” semi-retired, post-secondary physical education instructor, is a life-long paddler who hails from Edmonton. Years ago he had been involved with the Canadian Recreational Canoe Association around Merrickville.

“I was just so impressed with the canal and Merrickville I said: ‘One day we are going to come and paddle this.’”

Lunbd has paddled the big voyageur canoes since the 1970s.

“The voyageur canoes have a certain appeal,” he said. “It’s the closest you can get to paddling with a large group. It really is the team sport side of canoeing.”

The historical side of the voyageurs is also important, he added. He has been involved in several other re-enactment voyages in the big canoes.

The paddlers on the Rideau Canal trip will represent all ages and walks of life. They will be coming from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the United States’ mid-west.

“It’s quite a wide community across North America,” Lund said.

Lund said the Ottawa trip won’t be pushing the paddlers to their physical limits like the original voyageurs had to endure.

“Our schedule for the Rideau Canal is more of a tour schedule. We have time to enjoy the history of the area. Virtually every spot along the way has some historical connection.”

Passing through all the locks will also give them a chance to catch their breath.

In Kingston, the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour and the Cataraqui Canoe Club will be organizing a send-off event for the re-enactors at 2 p.m. on Aug. 6 at Confederation Basin.

On Aug. 7, when they arrive in costume in Seeley’s Bay at 3:30 p.m., a re-enactment encampment will be set up at the paddling station off Haskin’s Point Road.

They will be stopping at the Newboro locks at 4 p.m. on Aug. 8 for a civic welcome, demonstrations and a barbeque.